I took this photo flying back to the arctic region of Nunavik for a film screening of my documentary Melting Lands. To get to the town of Kangiksujuaq (the village I shot Melting Lands in), I first flew Air Canada from Saint John to Montreal, then changed carriers to First Air two and a half hours North to Kuujjuaq. In Kuujjuaq I changed carriers again to Air Inuit and made multiple stops between 5 more Inuit communities divided by many miles of frozen landscapes. I had my iPhone with me and took numerous pictures out the window of the white and frozen vastness. The cool thing about the photos is that the shutter speed of the iPhone is off sync with the frequency of the airplane’s propellers. The result is a very interesting photo effect that looks like UFO-like images in the sky.
The day I took this shot was my baby Kaiya’s first birthday and I was not with her. As a new dad it was painful to be so far away from her. Like the propeller and my iPhone shutter speed, I felt like I was becoming out of sync with being the best dad I could be because of my travels. Traveling and exploring is part of who I am however, and it is key to building the life that I want to build for my faily.
When I was invited to screen the film in the arctic I jumped to the opportunity as it is so expensive and difficult to travel to the arctic otherwise. As I grow wiser I am learning however that time with family is actually more thrilling than taking advantage of random invitations to remote locales…it has taken me about 20 years to figure this out!
If you want to see the whole film, you can check it here:
Greg Hemmings